Ep. 2 - Biocultural Heritage with Mindahi Bastida, Otomi-Toltec Elder from Mexico

Focusing on environmental impacts, Toltec elder Mindahi Bastida shares wisdom on biocultural diversity and protecting all forms of life.This time on The Four Sacred Gifts, Anita and Mindahi discuss:The impact of industrialization and over-exploitation of water in MexicoSpiritual and material destructionWetland restorations and a mermaid entityWhy Indigenous wisdom is so importantThe earth as our first motherLearning how to live in a sacred relationship with all beingsListening to nature and realizing our onenessSacred sites around the world that contain special energyMaking an effort to protect sacred areasTaking care of all life sources so that the earth can thrivePlanting seeds for a better futureInterrelation and the collective way of ancient peoplesAbout Mindahi Bastida:Mindahi Bastida (Otomi-Toltec) is the director of the Original Nations Program of the Fountain and was the director of the Original Caretakers Program at the Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary in New York until 2020. He has done general coordination of the Otomi-Toltec Regional Council in Mexico, is a caretaker of the philosophy and traditions of the Otomi-Toltec peoples, and has been an Otomi-Toltec Ritual Ceremony Officer since 1988. He is a consultant with UNESCO around Sacred Sites and Biocultural issues and for other UN programs. Mindahi has served as a delegate to various commissions and summits on Indigenous Rights and Sustainability, including the 1992 Earth Summit and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. He has written on the relation between State and Indigenous Peoples, intercultural education, collective intellectual property rights and associated Traditional Knowledge, bicultural sacred sites, and other topics. Mindahi is the author of Ancestors: Divine Remembrance of Lineage Relations and Sacred Sites. For more information, visit theearthelders.org.“We have worked with science, with culture, and with spirituality. It is possible to work in that way everywhere around the world. That’s the only way we can protect life, protect species, biocultural heritage, biocultural memory, and biocultural diversity.” – Mindahi BastidaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.